IT2, which responds to the recommendations of the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee to increase funding for fundamental, long-term research, advanced applications, and research on the economic and social implications of information technology, is funded at $366 million (a 28% increase) in FY 2000. Climate Change Technology Initiative. The budget provides a 34% increase for this initiative, which includes $1.4 billion in R&D on energy efficiency, renewable energy, carbon sequestration, and improvements in nuclear and fossil technologies. The initiative also provides $400 million in tax credits to stimulate adoption of energy efficiency technologies. • U.S. Global Change Research Program. The budget provides $1.8 billion (a 6% increase) to observe, understand, predict, and assess the state of the Earth and how it changes in response to natural and human-induced forces. • Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV). The budget provides $264 million (a 10% increase) for this cost-shared, industry partnership. PNGV aims to develop affordable cars that achieve up to three times the fuel economy of comparable vehicles and meet all applicable emission and safety standards. Education Research Initiative. The budget provides $50 million ($25 million at NSF and $25 million at ED) to support large-scale, interdisciplinary research in three key areas: school readiness for learning reading and mathematics; K-3 learning in reading and mathematics; and education of PreK-12 teachers in mathematics, reading, and science. Private Sector Stimulus The budget provides $2.4 billion to extend the Research and Experimentation (R&E) tax credit until June 30, 2000. The R&E credit helps stimulate additional private sector investment in research and development which encourages technological advancement, leading to higher productivity, and helping to generate new American jobs. THE OSTP MISSION In support of our Nation's science and technology priorities, OSTP has two primary responsibilities: advising the President on S&T; and providing leadership and coordination for our government's role in the national S&T enterprise. In the 1950's, in response to Soviet advances, highlighted by the launch of Sputnik, President Eisenhower saw the need for expert S&T counsel, and he invited James Killian, then president of MIT, to Washington to serve as the head of the first President's Science Advisory Committee, an OSTP predecessor. Since then our Nation's Presidents have drawn on the expertise of our office for S&T policy advice, and I see this as a contribution that will continue to grow in value as the challenges we face become increasingly complex. Within our agency, a small staff of professionals analyzes developments at the frontiers of scientific knowledge, and aids the President in shaping policy. OSTP also provides scientific and technical information and recommendations to the Vice President, the White House Offices, the Executive Branch Agencies, and to Congress. A second responsibility of OSTP is to provide leadership and coordination across the Administration. OSTP plays this role for a range of Administration priorities, including national security and global stability, environment, science, and technology. The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) has been an invaluable partner with OSTP in developing interagency evaluations and forging consensus on many crucial S&T issues. OSTP Budget Request I ask today for your continued support of OSTP's role in coordinating S&T policy for the Executive Branch and for our Nation at large. OSTP's budget request of $5,201,000 for FY 2000 represents an increase in budget authority of less than 3.5% and an increase of one in the FTE level from 39 in FY 1999 to 40 in FY 2000. This request will allow OSTP to fulfill its responsibilities in a White House that emphasizes the importance of science and technology in national and international affairs. After freezing our requests at the FY 1996 enacted level for two consecutive years, this increase is essential to continue to provide quality support to the President and information to the Congress. Since personnel costs constitute the largest portion of OSTP's budget, our FY 2000 budget request reflects our commitment to operate more efficiently and cost-effectively without compromising the essential element of a top caliber science and technology agency -- high quality personnel. National Science and Technology Council To meet the Administration's priority S&T goals we must combine the efforts and the expertise of multiple agencies. OSTP personnel support the work of the NSTC, a Cabinet-level Council that sponsors interagency initiatives to advance key S&T objectives. Our distributed system of research funding also places a premium on coordination between complementary agency programs. The NSTC, now in its fifth year, is improving such coordination. NSTC membership includes Cabinet Secretaries, heads of science and technology agencies, and key White House officials with significant S&T responsibilities. In the process of generating specific budgetary and policy recommendations, NSTC routinely reaches beyond the federal government to seek input from a wide spectrum of stakeholders in the public and private sectors. An important objective of the NSTC is to guide individual agency budget priorities for R&D and to orient the S&T spending of each Federal mission agency toward achieving national goals. To meet this objective, the NSTC has established five goal-oriented committees, each of which is chaired jointly by a senior agency official and an OSTP Associate Director. These standing committees, along with ad hoc working groups within the NSTC, provide an effective forum to resolve cross-cutting issues such as the future role of the U.S. national laboratories, or providing a program guide to federally funded environment and natural resources (see Appendix A for a full list of NSTC generated reports from 1998.) The President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology As Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, the Director of OSTP cochairs the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) with John Young, former President and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co. The PCAST, which consists of distinguished individuals from industry, education, and research institutions, and other nongovernmental organizations, serves as the highest level private sector advisory group for the President and the NSTC. (see Appendix B for a full list of PCAST generated reports from 1998.) President Clinton established the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) at the same time that he established the NSTC to advise the President on matters involving S&T and to assist the NSTC in securing private sector involvement in its activities. Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, I hope that this brief overview has conveyed to you the extent of this Administration's commitment to advancing S&T in the national interest. We are delighted that the fiscal discipline exercised over the past six years has put in reach the opportunity to place more emphasis on investments that can assure future economic progress, environmental protection, and other national priorities which depend so heavily on strong and sustained R&D. Regardless of party affiliation, in the end we can all agree that investments in S&T are investments in our Nation's future. I look forward to achieving bipartisan support for a national S&T strategy that will combine the resources of industry, academia, non-profit organizations, and all levels of government to advance knowledge, promote education, strengthen institutions, and develop human potential. I ask not only for your support for OSTP's Fiscal Year 2000 budget request, but also want you to know how much I appreciate the long-standing bipartisan support of the committee for OSTP and for the S&T research enterprise. I would be happy to answer any questions that you have. APPENDIX A REPORTS National Plant Genome Initiative, January 1998 Program Guide to Federally Funded Environment and Natural Resources R&D, February 1998 Our Changing Planet: The FY 1999 U.S. Global Change Research Program, An Investment in National Science and Technology Council 1997 Annual Report, April 1998 A National Obligation/Planning for Health Preparedness for and Readjustment of the Military, FY 2000 Interagency Research and Development Priorities (Jones-Lew Memorandum), June 1998 Networked Computing for the 21st Century/Supplement to the President's FY 99 Budget, Transportation Technology Plan, November 1998 Air Quality Research Strategic Plan, November 1998 Public/Private Partnerships: Implications for Innovation in Transportation, December 1998 Endocrine Disruptors: Research Needs and Priorities, December 1998 Reports and Further Information may be obtained by calling: 202-456-6100 (phone) or 202-456-6026 (fax) Reports are Also Available on the NSTC Home Page via Link from the OSTP Home Page at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/OSTP/html/OSTP_ Home.html APPENDIX B ACTIVITIES OF THE PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE OF ADVISORS ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (PCAST) In 1998 PCAST provided the following reports: Teaming With Life: Investing in Science to Understand and Use America's Living Capital (June 1998). Over the last few decades, a new paradigm has emerged: Improving and protecting our environment is compatible with growing the nation's economy. As part of this paradigm, we have come to recognize the essential linkage between the economy and the environment. We now understand that the sustained bounty of our nation's lands and waters and of its native plant and animal communities is the natural capital on which our economy is founded. We also realize that a sound forward-looking economic strategy requires that we protect this natural capital, rather than damage it and then spend millions or billions of dollars attempting to recreate what nature has already given us. To protect our natural capital, our Nation's biodiversity and the ecosystems within which it thrives, we need to have an extensive and frequently updated environmental knowledge base. This knowledge base is required to evaluate alternative plans for managing biodiversity and ecosystems as we work to optimize the union between the environment and the economy. The report offers strategies as to how to amplify our knowledge that will allow us to accomplish these goals. PCAST issued the following letter reports: Letter Report on R&D Partnerships, released March 6, 1998, reviewed the effectiveness of Federal technology partnership programs based on three studies and noted areas for improving programmatic effectiveness and efficiency. Letter Report on Global Cooperation to Develop and Commercialize Energy Technologies to Meet the Global Challenge of Climate Change, released May 15, 1998. The report advised that the issues of climate change presents the United States and the world with one of the greatest challenges of the 21" century. The report recommended development of a plan to address the challenge of global impact of human activities through technology and development of a global collaborative framework in greenhouse-gas reductions. Letter Report on the Education Research Initiative, released June 8, 1998. The report advised that the quantity, quality, and organization of education research in this country need renewed attention. The report recommended that the FY 1999 spending constitute an initial investment in building the methodological human, and institutional resources that will move the United States to a $1.5 billion annual program of peer reviewed, politically independent, reliable, and cumulative research in education that draws on a broad base of expertise. Letter Report on the FY 2000 Budget, released November 4, 1998. The report urges the President to strongly support a broad S&T portfolio in the FY 2000 budget. PCAST advised the President to continue to focus Federal resources on strengthening the U.S. research capacity through an approach such as the 21" Century Research Fund and to broaden |